In spite of many advances in the understanding of gallstone pathogenesis knowledge of the natural history and risk factors for this very common disease is still incomplete. Furthermore, the availability of new surgical and nonsurgical therapeutic approaches makes it important to acquire this knowledge in order to identify the most appropriate treatment. In the past year, data on the natural history of gallstone disease were provided by epidemiologic studies on free-living populations; population or case-control studies evaluated some supposed risk factors of gallstone disease. Decision and quantitative analyses were performed to compare different therapeutic modalities.
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